Telephone support is currently enjoyed by Gold, Platinum and Titanium PowerSellers. Now Silver PowerSellers can also benefit from this service, and speak to a team of dedicated support staff. Silver PowerSellers can receive advice on subjects like how to increase sales or how best to use features like eBay Shops and Turbo Lister. Lines will be open Monday to Friday, 9.00am to 6.00pm.

PowerSellers can learn more about this new service by visiting the PowerSeller Portal, logging in with their PowerSeller seller ID, clicking on ‘Benefits’, then ‘Customer Support’.

If you previously declined an invitation to become a Silver PowerSeller, we will be contacting you with details on how to join the programme. Please sign in to your account and go to ‘My Messages’ for further details.

For further information about the PowerSeller Programme, visit the PowerSeller Portal.

Regards,

The eBay.co.uk and eBay.ie Teams

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Attract additional trade by listing your items using the Auction-style format and increase your return on investment!

Terms and conditions apply. Click here for full details.

Regards,

The eBay.co.uk Team

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Where Item Specifics have been introduced, sellers see an increase in sales. Buyers can refine their searches quickly, and Item Descriptions are more detailed and clearly structured.

Sellers can choose whether to include Item Specifics in their listing, and buyers can choose whether or not to use them in search.

Item Specifics are now available in the following categories:

Business, Office & Industrial > Hand Tools
Business, Office & Industrial > Packing & Posting Supplies > Tissue Paper
Cars, Parts & Vehicles > Boats & Watercraft > Accessories
Cars, Parts & Vehicles > Campers, Caravans & Motorhomes > Accessories
Cars, Parts & Vehicles > Commercial Vehicles > Trailers/ Transporters > Parts
Coins > Historical Medals/ Medallions
Collectables > Theatre/ Opera/ Ballet > Theatre Brochures
Collectables > Transportation > Underground
Computing > Laptop Accessories > Anti-Theft/ Locks
Computing > Software
Dolls & Bears > Dolls' House Miniatures
Dolls & Bears > Dolls' Houses
Health & Beauty > Dental Care
Health & Beauty > Hair Care > Shampoo & Conditioner
Home & Garden > Bathroom
Home & Garden > Bedroom Furniture
Home & Garden > Cleaning, Laundry & Vacuuming > Ironing Boards & Covers
Home & Garden > Conservatory, Patio & Barbecue > Conservatory Furniture
Home & Garden > Decorative Items
Home & Garden > Food & Drink
Home & Garden > Kitchen
Home & Garden > Living Room Furniture
Home & Garden > Pet Supplies
Home & Garden > Safety & Security > Fire Extinguishers
Home & Garden > Stationery & School Equipment
Home & Garden > Storage
Jewellery & Watches > Loose Gemstones
Music > Accessories/ Storage
Sporting Goods > Camping > Cables & Hookups
Sporting Goods > Canoeing & Kayaking > Canoes
Sporting Goods > Climbing/ Mountaineering > Carabiners & Hardware
Sporting Goods > Cricket > Balls
Sporting Goods > Cycling > Cycling Accessories
Sporting Goods > Darts > Clothing/ Shirts
Sporting Goods > Equestrian > Driving
Sporting Goods > Exercise & Fitness > Yoga Equipment
Sporting Goods > Golf > Golf Club Components
Sporting Goods > Rugby League > Balls
Sporting Goods > Sailing > Accessories & Equipment
Sporting Goods > SCUBA & Snorkelling > Dive Lights & Torches
Sporting Goods > Snowboarding
Tickets & Travel > Travel > Luggage
Toys & Games > Wargames & Role-Playing

For more information about Item Specifics, please refer to the Item Specifics help.

Regards,

The eBay.co.uk Team

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Within the categories listed below in bold font the Item Specifics feature has become firmly established and all sub-categories will be removed.

We will no longer ask sellers to input multiple sub-categories and repeat the same information in the Item Specifics fields. Sellers will simply choose the main category, e.g. Baby Clothing, and then Item Specifics, such as Size and Colour.

In addition, buyers will not be presented with both Matching Categories and a series of drop-down boxes (a ‘Finder’). Instead the more complete and flexible ‘Finders’ will be the only refinement choice. Besides making the page clearer, the ‘Finders’ allow buyers to simultaneously search by multiple criteria such as size and colour.

Books, Comics & Magazines > Audio Books

Music > Cassettes

Once the changes have taken place you will be able to see the new and changed category IDs on the All Categories Page.

We would like to thank all the members who took the time to contribute the thousands of ideas and suggestions that have helped to shape these changes.

Regards,

The eBay.co.uk and eBay.ie Teams

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During this maintenance period, certain eBay site features may be intermittently unavailable or slow.

Regards,

The eBay.co.uk and eBay.ie Teams

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During this maintenance period, certain eBay site features may be intermittently unavailable or slow.

Regards,

The eBay.co.uk and eBay.ie Teams

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If you want to buy Royal Mail services please try after 8:30am when the system will be fully functional once again. This does not affect any purchases of Parcelforce Worldwide products.

Royal Mail would like to apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

Regards,
The eBay.co.uk Team

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Because of the limited number of tickets that will be available, we expect that some of these tickets will be offered for sale on eBay. We have been working with Live Earth to further their fundraising efforts and will apply the following conditions on the sales of these tickets:

• At least 20% of the final sale price for any Live Earth ticket in the UK must be donated to charity through our eBay for Charity platform. We strongly encourage sellers to donate to Stop Climate Chaos - the official organisation supporting the Live Earth concert in the UK – or to another charity supporting the climate change agenda.
• Sellers of Live Earth tickets will need to be registered with eBay for Charity.
• One and three-day listings will not be allowed.

Thank you for your understanding and for your support of this cause.

Regards,

The eBay.co.uk Team

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You can use Auction-style, Auction-with-Buy It Now or Buy It Now Only (Fixed Price) formats. The Insertion Fee will be reduced to 10 pence in any eligible category.

Maximise your exposure and make use of this great offer!

Terms and conditions apply. Click here for full details.

Regards,

The eBay.co.uk team

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My name is Matt, and I am the Events and Education Manager at eBay.co.uk. I wanted to let you know that eBay University will be visiting Coventry on Saturday, 21st April 2007.

eBay University is a chance to learn about eBay, meet eBay staff and network with other sellers. For full course details and to book a place, click here.

On the day we’ll have a whole host of classes for you to choose from on all sorts of eBay topics, ranging from Search Engine Optimisation to Marketing strategies. We also have the ‘Basics’ course which is ideal for beginners who want to master the basics of eBay selling. Tutors on the day are PowerSellers and eBay Staff, and there will also be sessions delivered by tutors from the Institute of Business Advisers.

If you can’t join us in Coventry, don’t worry. eBay University will be visiting London, Glasgow and Manchester before the end of the year.

Find out more about eBay University here.

Regards,

Matt
Events and Education, eBay.co.uk

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This testing was held over a five-month period, with a small percentage of UK members being shown the new search results page designs. You can read further details of the test here, and read our initial announcement of the testing here.

These new search results pages included larger item photographs, an expandable 'quick view' box to show key item details and additional information on seller feedback, item location, postage methods and payment methods.

We are not planning to make any immediate changes to search results pages based on these tests, but we do anticipate making changes towards the end of 2007. We will announce further details of these changes nearer the time.

Many thanks to the thousands of members who took part in testing these new pages and gave us comments and feedback over the last five months.

Regards,

The eBay.co.uk team

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As you may know, over the past few months we’ve been working on a number of initiatives to support a proactive approach to securing the safety of the eBay.co.uk and eBay.ie marketplaces.

For instance, last autumn we put into place restrictions on listings to help reduce the number of counterfeit items on the site. We’ve also been protecting bidders on high-value items through the Safeguarding Members ID project, and with feedback 2.0, the second generation of our feedback system, we’re testing Detailed Seller Ratings as a way of helping buyers choose sellers who offer the best customer experience. In early summer, we’ll be changing our buyer protection plan to encourage the use of safe, insured payments through PayPal.

Early results from these and other behind-the-scenes efforts show that we’re moving in the right direction. We’re seeing a significant reduction in fake Second Chance offers, for instance, and fewer reports of potential counterfeit listings in the categories most favoured by scammers. Of course, as we make changes, the scammers also adapt their methods. While I’m pleased with our direction and progress, I also want to help the Community understand that this is an ongoing effort that requires an aggressive long-term approach.

Some of these actions have caused some legitimate concerns in the Community, and we’ve worked hard to listen to these concerns and address them where we can. With Safeguarding Member IDs specifically, we’re working to improve the user interface – we know this is the right policy, but we also know we can improve the user experience, and we’re working on it.

We’ve launched feedback 2.0 on eBay.co.uk, as well as seven other eBay international sites, and the initial reaction so far has been encouraging. We’re closely watching how this improved feedback system works, and continuing to listen to the valuable feedback we’re receiving.

Proactive Fraud Protection
Today I want to let buyers and sellers know about another security measure we’re taking. For safety reasons in categories with the highest levels of fraud-related complaints, certain listings may not be viewable for several hours before they’re indexed into Search results. These new listings are still viewable on the site through My eBay or if you search for the specific item number; however, they are not immediately visible through a keyword search or Browse.

To maximize exposure for these listings and ensure that buyers who browse by category see these items, we’ve made an important change. As previously announced, listings affected by the review process appear in the search results when they are sorted by the ‘Newly Listed’ sort option based on the time they were made visible in Search (as opposed to when they are listed). This ensures that they appear at the top of default Browse results, as well as within the ‘Newly Listed’ sort option for Search, where they belong.

What kinds of listings will be affected?
Unfortunately, it’s not possible for us to give you details on the criteria we use, because that information could be used by scammers to work around our Trust and Safety efforts. On the whole, however, we expect this security measure to affect only a fraction of listings.

Let me say that I understand that this has some impact for our sellers, but with the change to how we sort listings, and the fact that most bidding occurs in the final 12 hours of a listing, we believe it’s the right step to take. I know we share the same goal: to keep eBay a welcoming, safe marketplace for both our buyers and our sellers.

Again, I appreciate your support. Working together, our efforts are helping keep the marketplace a safe place to buy and sell.

Sincerely,

Rob Chesnut
Senior Vice President, Global Trust & Safety

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If you have not upgraded to the latest version of Turbo Lister, which was released in April 2006, we encourage you to do so now. While the desktop application for Turbo Lister 1 will still function on computers and can be used offline, you will see errors when you try to connect online to eBay.co.uk. Please read the Upgrade Instructions for information on how to upgrade from Turbo Lister 1 to Turbo Lister 2.

Turbo Lister 2 has many features that are not available in the old version such as editing in the grid and customization of grid views and create/edit flows. Because of many recommendations, we are also adding the ability to revise your active listings and relist ended items (available soon).

Find out more about Turbo Lister 2.

Regards,

The eBay.co.uk and eBay.ie Teams

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Within Crafts a number of categories have been expanded and reorganised:

Crafts > Beads
    - Moved from Jewellery & Watches and reorganised

Crafts > Jewellery Making
    - New category

Within the categories listed below in bold the Item Specifics feature has become firmly established and all sub-categories will be removed.

We will no longer ask sellers to input multiple sub-categories and repeat the same information in the Item Specifics fields. Sellers will simply choose the main category, e.g. Baby Clothing and then Item Specifics, such as Size and Colour.

In addition, buyers will not be presented with both Matching Categories and a series of drop-down boxes (a ‘Finder’). Instead the more complete and flexible ‘Finders’ will be the only refinement choice. Besides making the page clearer, the ‘Finders’ allow buyers simultaneously to search by multiple criteria such as size and colour.

Clothes, Shoes & Accessories > Men’s Accessories

Clothes, Shoes & Accessories > Women’s Clothing

DVD, Film & TV > Other Film Formats

Home & Garden > Bedding

Music > Other Music Formats

Sporting Goods > Skiing > Skis

Toys & Games > Model Kits

Once the changes have taken place you will be able to see the new and changed category IDs on the All Categories Page.

We would like to thank all the members who took the time to contribute the thousands of ideas and suggestions that have helped to shape these changes.

Regards,

The eBay.co.uk and eBay.ie Teams

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We are pleased to announce that the Pre-Filled Item Information feature will soon be available in the following categories:

Computing > Desktop PC Components > Fans/Heatsinks
Computing > Desktop PC Components > Graphics, Video & TV Cards
Computing > Desktop PC Components > Memory
Computing > Desktop PC Components > Storage Controllers
Computing > Printer Ink & Cartridges
Consumer Electronics > DVD & Home Cinema > Home Cinema Systems
Consumer Electronics > Portable Audio > Dictaphones/Dictation Machines
Mobile & Home Phones > Mobile Phones
Photography > Camcorders
Photography > Camera Lenses
Photography > Digital Camera Memory Cards

Pre-Filled Item Information is a feature for sellers to add product information easily, such as brand, model, storage capacity, and colour to their listings. The information is presented to buyers with standardised formatting in the item description. The added information and its clear and structured layout help make buying decisions.

Pre-filled item information is already available in DVDs and CDs. To learn more about Pre-Filled Item Information, please see our information page.

Regards,

The eBay.co.uk Team

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eBay’s Item Specifics feature allows sellers to provide more details when they list an item. Buyers can then search against these item details, as well as using the standard Title Search and Description Search functions, so they can find items quickly and easily.

Where Item Specifics have been introduced, sellers see an increase in sales. Buyers can refine their searches quickly, and Item Descriptions are more detailed and clearly structured.

Sellers can choose whether to include Item Specifics in their listing, and buyers can choose whether or not to use them in search.

Item Specifics are now available in the following categories:

Cars, Parts & Vehicles > Cherished Numbers > Cherished Numbers
Cars, Parts & Vehicles > Motorcycle Clothing & Helmets
Cars, Parts & Vehicles > Motorcycle Parts & Accessories > Motorcycle Parts
Clothes, Shoes & Accessories > Boys' Accessories
Clothes, Shoes & Accessories > Girls' Accessories
Clothes, Shoes & Accessories > Vintage Clothing & Accessories > Men's
Clothes, Shoes & Accessories > Vintage Clothing & Accessories > Women's
Clothes, Shoes & Accessories > Wedding Clothing
Computing > Laptop Accessories > Batteries
Computing > Laptop Accessories > Cases & Bags
Computing > Laptop Accessories > Docking Stations
Home & Garden > Bedroom Furniture > Beds
Home & Garden > Cleaning, Laundry & Vacuuming > Laundry
Home & Garden > DIY Tools > Power Tools
Home & Garden > Garden & Plants > Bird Baths/Feeders/Tables
Home & Garden > Garden & Plants > Paving & Decking
Home & Garden > Garden & Plants > Ponds & Water Features
Home & Garden > Garden & Plants > Pots/Window Boxes/Baskets
Home & Garden > Garden & Plants > Power Tools & Equipment
Home & Garden > Garden & Plants > Weed/Pest Control
Home & Garden > Kitchen > Cutlery
Home & Garden > Kitchen > Kitchen Knives
Musical Instruments > String
Musical Instruments > Woodwind
Sporting Goods > Table Tennis
Sporting Goods > Football Shirts
Toys & Games > Pre-School/Young Children

For more information about Item Specifics, please refer to the Item Specifics help.

Regards,

The eBay.co.uk Team

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